I HAVE TODAY approved H.R. 5976, a bill "To amend section I of the Natural Gas Act."
This measure preserves the authority of the Federal Power Commission to regulate the rates which may be charged for natural gas moving in interstate commerce up to the time it reaches the State in which it will be wholly consumed. At the same time the bill makes it possible to remove from Federal regulation persons and facilities receiving gas within or at the boundary of a State if all of the natural gas so received is to be used within that State. The bill contains a Congressional declaration that these matters are primarily of local concern and subject to regulation by the several States. The removal is operative only if the States exercise and enforce jurisdiction over rates and services.
I have approved this bill because of my conviction that the interests of the individual citizen will be better protected when they remain under State and local control than when they are regulated or controlled by the Federal Government. I shall support State regulation of functions and matters which are primarily of local concern whenever possible and when not contrary to the national interest.
The State regulation provided in H.R. 5976 presents a new challenge to the State governments and their regulatory commissions. This measure places the responsibility for protection of consumer interests for intra-state matters squarely where it belongs--in the hands of the people of the States and their duly elected or appointed officials. I believe effective and competent discharge of that responsibility will result.
If experience should demonstrate that the Act creates a larger area of regulation by the States than they will be able to handle effectively in the public interest, I shall promptly recommend that the Congress take whatever remedial action appears to be necessary.
Note: As enacted, H.R. 5976 is Public Law 323, 83d Congress (68 Stat. 36).
Dwight D. Eisenhower, Statement by the President Upon Signing Bill To Amend the Natural Gas Act. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/233629